After Democrats won a trifecta – securing the governorship and both chambers of the legislature – in Virginia’s elections last November, the Old Dominion has been at the center of plenty of controversy as liberals rammed through one far-left policy after another. But one of the most outrageous crusades Virginia Democrats have embarked on is a thinly veiled scheme to impose sweeping gun control measures under the guise of banning “assault weapons.”
HB 217 passed the Virginia Senate this week and is now headed to Governor Abigail Spanberger’s desk, where it is likely to be signed into law. You can probably guess what the gist of the bill is without reading the legislative text – it’s simply the latest formulaic blue-state vehicle to further restrict our liberties. Taking the title from a great classic Aerosmith tune, it’s the “same old song and dance.”
Specifically, HB 217 criminalizes the new sale, purchase (and thus ownership) of whole classes of firearms in one fell swoop. This includes firearms that are regularly purchased and broadly kept by Americans and in common use – including those the anti-gun crowd erroneously refers to as “assault weapons.”
HB 217 also places similar restrictions on magazines, limiting capacity to 15 rounds. Though HB 217 contains a token grandfather clause, it also imposes penalties for non-compliance.
Essentially, the bill claims to ban “assault weapons” and then classifies vast numbers of firearms, including many commonly used for home defense, hunting, and sport shooting, as assault weapons. It’s a common language trick that Democrats are betting most Americans won’t get wise to.
But even the Democrats pushing the bill couldn’t keep the charade up – nor could they avoid revealing that they know absolutely nothing about the firearms they are now trying to ban. During a speech on the Virginia Senate floor, Majority Leader Scott Surovell referred to “assault pistols” and “a really big pistol with a telescope on it.” (Any guesses how many pistols Surovell has actually held in real life?)
Of course, the constitutionality of this bill is dubious at best – which also makes it no different from the umpteen other gun control laws in states like Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. It will almost certainly be challenged in court, but that litigation could take years – years in which gun-grabbing Democrats can and will weaponize this law against responsible gun owners.
As opponents of the bill have pointed out, the legislation won’t do anything to stop actual gun crime. Criminals already don’t care about current gun laws, so why would one more stop them? Instead, all it will do is inhibit law-abiding, responsible gun owners from exercising their Second Amendment rights and protecting their families and property.
We all know that the real aim of these laws is a long-term squeeze-play on all facets of gun ownership, use, and culture in America. HB 217, while passed under the dubious auspices of public safety, is simply the latest of these statutes designed to destroy the Second Amendment.
Over the long haul, state-level bills like HB 217 are designed to dissuade pro-gun political action and advocacy bit by bit. Their proponents hope to discourage interest in firearms by making them more difficult to obtain.
In other words, they are intentionally crafted to erode gun culture in America and set the stage for further attacks on the Second Amendment. In this regard, HB 217 isn’t much different than the litany of similar laws in states like California, Maryland, Hawaii, and New York.
What makes this state-level attack on the Second Amendment particularly jarring is that, not too terribly long ago, Virginia was actually considered one of the more “gun-friendly” states – despite the fact that it sits nestled up against Washington, D.C., one of the most “gun-unfriendly” places in the country. Virginia has always been an outdoor sportsman’s state, with traditions like hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting deeply ingrained in the culture.
Virginia has also prioritized history, much of which includes firearms history. From hosting Civil War reenactments to preserving battlefields and having world-class military and arms museums, historical preservation in Virginia has helped keep a bright light on the importance of firearms in America.
Notwithstanding these cultural dynamics, the Commonwealth’s continued slide leftward – largely driven by explosive growth in the suburbs in the northern part of the state to staff an ever-expanding federal government – has led to a further tightening of gun laws. In these respects, Virginia’s new gun control efforts aren’t much different than those in other states like Minnesota, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon – all of which used to have favorable attitudes toward gun ownership but which have been dragged toward anti-Second Amendment radicalism by militantly progressive urban population centers.
One can see these patterns metastasizing across the nation, as emboldened Democrat legislatures and administrations move aggressively to notch quick victories and put marks on the board. State by state, the well-funded activist gun-control movement relentlessly pushes forth, undeterred and unthwarted. The anti-gun Democrats don’t even bother with the hollow talk anymore, disingenuously suggesting they aren’t going to take anyone’s guns away, like Kamala Harris did on the ’24 campaign trail – they just grind on, making no bones about their intent.
Even if various gun control laws are immediately challenged in court, rarely now do pro-gun citizens seem to get any kind of substantive and lasting judicial victory that really takes the sting out of these draconian gun control schemes. For those pushing radical anti-Second Amendment positions, two steps forward and one step back is still progress toward their ultimate goal of disarmament.
All the while, they seem to have the game down cold – they continue to fundraise and march on toward the next opportunity while our rights are hung up in seemingly endless legal gridlock.
Perhaps Governor Spanberger could surprise us and actually do one thing to live up to her “moderate” schtick by vetoing this terrible legislation. But gun owners shouldn’t hold their breath. More than likely, it’ll be the same old story – same old song and dance, my friend.
Connor Martin is a U.S. Marine and covers national policy issues.
